KILLER co-pilot Andreas Lubitz was trawling suicide and gay websites as he spiralled into mental illness.

The 27-year-old also had problems with his eyesight and tore up sick notes from his doctors after fearing his mental state could lose him his job.

Just weeks before crashing the Germanwings Flight 4U 9525 plane, killing 149 passengers, he had learned he could also face a big pay cut and changes to his company pension.

A police source in Dusseldorf said: “We have a team disassembling his computer, and that of his girlfriend, because the information that we received was that he trawled the dark side of the web visiting, among other things, sites containing gay porn, suicide themes and sexual perversions.”

Lubitz also endured the nickname “Tomato Andy”, a German term for repressed homosexuals and a dig at his previous job as a flight attendant.

Reports have suggested he was troubled by his sexuality and also seeking treatment for vision problems. Last year he scared a girlfriend with remarks that showed his mind was in a dark and secretive place.

Former lover Maria, a Germanwings stewardess, claimed he told her: “One day I will do something that will change the whole system, and then all will know my name and remember it”.

“I didn’t know what he meant by that at the time, but now it’s clear,” she said.

They dated for five months and often spent nights in hotels together while flying around Europe.

Generally he was “nice and open”, she said, but when the subject turned to work his mood would change.

‘‘We spoke a lot about work and then he became another person,” she said.

“He became agitated about the circumstances in which he had to work: Too little money, anxiety about his contract and too much pressure.”

Their relationship became strained because of his volatile temper: “During conversations he’d suddenly throw a tantrum and scream at me,” Maria told a German newspaper.

“I was afraid. He once locked me in the bathroom for a long time.”

Lubitz was reluctant to talk about his medical state but did confide to her he was having psychiatric treatment.

“The torn-up sick notes make sense now to me and were a clear sign that he did not want to admit that his big dream of flying as a captain was over,” said Maria.

Experts trawling through Lubitz’s computers are hoping to find the reason for his actions, but have not found a suicide note or any explanation yet.

However, they are drawing a fuller picture of his life and know he would probably have been troubled by being called “Tomato Andy”.

I was afraid. He once locked me in the bathroom for a long time

Andreas former girlfriend, Maria

Lubitz also feared that the extent of his mental health problems would have become known and he would then be grounded.

Police found a torn up sick note in his smart Dusseldorf flat showing he was supposed to be off sick last Tuesday when he crashed the Airbus 320 into the French Alps during a flight from Barcelona to Dusseldorf.

A German newspaper, Sueddeutsche Zeitung, said Lubitz was harbouring a “terrible secret” and the letters, meaning regular medical treatment is required, were on his records.

Matthias Wirth, from the Association of Flight Doctors, said: “Pilots have a close bond with their profession. If you take away a pilot’s licence you see a world falling apart. You want to avoid it if you can, but pilots are good actors.”

Lubitz also worried that he faced a drastic pay cut just weeks before his mid-air meltdown.

He feared his wages and pension benefits could be reduced as Germanwings’s owner Lufthansa tries to compete with low-budget rivals easyJet and Turkish Airlines, where staffing costs are 40 per cent lower.

He was notified of the company’s intentions by internal company memo to employees from board members Karl Ulrich Garnadt, CEO, and Bettina Volkens, from Human Resources, on February 5.

The message said that soaring airport fees and air traffic control charges had helped take the company into the “dangerous red zone”.

Average ticket sales also fell by more than 3 per cent in 2014.

The executives added: “The competition knows our cost position and knows that this is an area where we are vulnerable.

“Our cost level is now 30 to 40 per cent higher than that of our direct competitors such as easyJet or Turkish Airlines. In the long term our staff costs cannot, of course, be substantially higher than those of our competitors. There is no easy answer to this.”

Germanwings pilots went on strike for two days from February 11 to 13 over Lufthansa’s plans to abolish a scheme that allows pilots to retire early at 55, and still keep some of their pay until they reach the age at which state pension payments start.

If implemented it would mean pilots would have to save for their earlier retirement, which equates to a large pay cut.

Professor Peter Turnbull, an aviation expert who has helped put together EU reports on airline wage structures, said: “People think that being a pilot is a glamorous job but in most cases it’s not, it’s simply going from A to B.

“To earn a typical pilot’s licence costs between £80,000 to £100,000. Most co-pilots like Lubitz have an intense working regime but are only paid, to use an industry term, when the blocks are released.

“What that means is they are paid for flying time only, they get nothing for any delays and have to pay for overnight accommodation themselves.

“So if Andreas Lubitz was facing issues with money or was worried about debt, I can see how it would play heavily on his mind.”

However, it has emerged that Lubitz spent around £100,000 on two Audi sports cars which were delivered to his flat just three days before the air disaster.